Silver scabbardfish
| Silver scabbardfish | |
|---|---|
| File:Drawing of Lepidopus caudatus from The Royal Natural History (1896).jpg | |
| Scientific classification Error creating thumbnail: | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scombriformes |
| Family: | Trichiuridae |
| Genus: | Lepidopus |
| Species: | L. caudatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Lepidopus caudatus (Euphrasen, 1788)
| |
| Synonyms | |
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The silver scabbardfish (Lepidopus caudatus), also known as the frostfish or beltfish is a benthopelagic cutlassfish of the family Trichiuridae found throughout the temperate seas of the world. It grows to over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in length.
Behaviour
[edit | edit source]Lepidopus caudatus is known to strand itself in winter months, likely due to being caught in currents when the fish migrate closer to shore for spawning.[2]
In a human context
[edit | edit source]Lepidopus caudatus is a traditional food for the Māori people of New Zealand, known by the name pāra. The fish was not typically caught, but eaten as a supplementary food when schools washed ashore, especially common around Moeraki in Otago.[2] Māori traditionally believed that strandings were caused by the fish chasing the Moon, while early European settlers believed that frostfish purposefully chose to end their lives by stranding themselves.[2]
References
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